The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 27, 2001
Filed:
Feb. 02, 1998
Dale T. Gracyalny, Appleton, WI (US);
David Carpenter, Pepperel, MA (US);
Kamala Grasso, Wayland, MA (US);
Douglas W. Johnson, Appleton, WI (US);
Peter D. Johnson, Aurora, IL (US);
John E. Longan, Shrewsbury, MA (US);
John R. Moody, Neenah, WI (US);
Hugh L. Smith, West Roxbury, MA (US);
Ronald J. Vish, Somerville, MA (US);
Fort James Corporation, Richmond, VA (US);
Abstract
A dispensing apparatus and method are disclosed for dispensing sheet material from at least one roll of the sheet material. Dispensing is transferred from a stub roll to a reserve roll automatically in response to sensing a predetermined quantity of the stub roll. An isolating element is provided to lift the reserve roll out of contact with dispensing rollers during dispensing of sheet material from the stub roll, and a nipping element is provided to nip sheet material of the reserve roll when dispensing is transferred from the stub roll to the reserve roll. A cam controls movement of both the isolating element and the nipping element. Structure is also provided for sensing the diameter of the reserve roll of sheet material and providing an indication when the reserve roll is a predetermined diameter. The dispenser is quiet and capacity efficient.